Grange Hill residents fearful after two people shot, one fatally
WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — Fearful residents of Grange Hill, in Westmoreland, are crying for help after two people were shot, one fatally, in their community on Wednesday morning.
“Soldier cyah help wi, not even police! Only God can help wi,” a distraught resident told OBSERVER ONLINE.
Gunmen went on a rampage in the community killing a carpenter in a Church graveyard and, wounding a woman who stood along the roadway with her grandchild while going to school.
The deceased has been identified as 56-year-old Jeremiah Smith, otherwise called ‘Shortman’, of a Mint Road address.
OBSERVER ONLINE understands that Smith and the injured woman were neighbours.
Reports are that Smith was along Top Road, Geneva in Grange Hill, his usual routine, as he would feed his chickens. Shortly after 8:00 am, men on a motorcycle rode up and shot him in the leg. Smith ran in the direction of the Church in an attempt to escape. However, he was chased by his attackers who shot him multiple times in his face and upper body.
The men then made good their escape on the motorcycle in the direction of Mint Road, but not without spraying multiple bullets while riding. It’s theorized that a stray bullet caught the woman who was standing at the entrance of Mint Road, attempting to get a taxi.
When asked to describe Smith, his spouse, who did not want to be named said, “Him good like that man, him good, this morning him guh out 5:00 am after leaving his son’s lunch money on the dresser for school.
“He left my son’s lunch money, before leaving home this morning. A last night him ramp wid him,” his spouse said as she burst into tears.
Meanwhile, the child that was with the woman was unharmed. The police were summoned and the injured woman transported to the Savanna-La-Mar Hospital, where she was treated and admitted in a serious condition. She is also said to be suffering from a heart condition.
In total, eight people were shot in the parish on Wednesday three of which were fatal.
In wake of the increased murders in the parish, Custos of Westmoreland, Reverend Cannon Hartley Perrin, has called a meeting with the Churches, slated for tomorrow.
Kimberley Peddie
